Gear
Under Construction
As if the work involved in producing the many styles of solid and semi-solid guitars wasn’t enough to do in the first year, Murphy Music Industries commenced marketing a full range of amplifiers …..not one or two …..but ten!
These were initially built in valve format but with the trend towards solid state ( transistor ) happening, they developed into these. They were all combo units made by an electronics company in Phoenix, Arizona and approved by UL (Underwriters Laboratories).
Professional models
• 101 – “Splattertone”, Vibrolo, Echo, two 12” speakers
• 102 – Vibrolo, Echo, two 12” speakers
• 103 – “Splattertone”, Tremolo, Echo, two 12” speakers
• 104 – Tremolo, Echo, two 12” speakers
• 105 – Tremolo, Echo, two 10” speakers
• 106 – ( Bass amplifier ) “Splattertone”, one 15” speaker
• 107 – ( Bass amplifier ) one 15” speaker
• 108 – ( Bass amplifier ) four 10” speakers
Semi-professional model
• 109 – Tremolo, Echo, two 10” speakers
Student model
• 110 – Tremolo, one 10” speaker
All amps were covered with rich, black naugahyde material and had chrome trim. I don’t know what “splattertone” was ….and it was a feature that obviously died with the amplifiers.
A full range of guitars AND amps would be a guitar maker’s dream but sadly all was not well in the amplifier field either …..the luck o’ the Irish was definitely NOT with the company! However, this time rather than facing external pressures by rival manufacturers, the amplifier line was facing a crisis all their own.
Pat recalled that with the shift to solid state, there developed a large number of teething problems with the amplifiers. This was still in the early days of transistor development and apparently while the guitars were made using top quality electronic components, the amplifiers weren’t! …apparently the amp maker was using low quality, cheap components and they kept on breaking down and the ones that WERE sold were being returned for service.
This was the same problem that was to bring about the downfall of Bob Crook’s STANDEL amplifier company a few years later.
They only sold a small amount of units because the amplifiers were starting to affect the credibility of the guitars in some people’s eyes.
It was an area Pat was going to address but time for the company ran out!
Amplifiers
